


Budding Champion

by Diary



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bechdel Test Fail, Developing Friendships, Family, First Meetings, Interspecies, Interspecies Friendship, Late Night Conversations, Literal Sleeping Together, Love, Male Character of Color, Male Friendship, Minor Violence, Morally Ambiguous Character, Mythical Beings & Creatures, POV Character of Color, POV Child, POV Gabe (Teen Wolf), POV Male Character, Pre-Teen Wolf (TV), Sharing a Bed, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-30 23:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12663420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: My take on how Gabe and Nolan met and started to become friends. Complete.





	Budding Champion

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

Gabe wishes it’d just rain already.

The sky’s been threatening it for almost three days. There have been days before when the clouds completely covered the sun, but these clouds today are different. These clouds are almost black, making the day dimmer than a day’s ever been, and the air is hot and stuffy. Humid, he thinks the weather report called it.

Rounding a corner, he rolls his eyes when he sees one of the boys who goes to his school kneeling near a street drain. He doesn’t remember the boy’s name, but he knows the boy’s a weirdo. He brings weird lunches to school, sits in his chair during classes strangely, and from what Gabe’s heard, stares without blinking for long periods of time.

As he turns to go back around the corner, there’s a small yelp, and he sees the kid has managed to get his right leg stuck in the drain. Bringing his hand up against his forehead, he can’t even find it funny. The other boy has to be somewhere between ten and thirteen, old enough to not do something even most little kids wouldn’t do.

Gabe’s half-tempted to leave him, but- the other boy’s just a strange kid who might be stuck for hours.

Cats make Gabe sneeze, dogs are loud and have sharp teeth, and all he sees when he looks at pictures and videos of baby animals are dumb creatures who make funny noises and are either too fluffy or have scarily sharp angles to their limbs. Despite this, when one of his neighbours, an older boy, started hurting animals, Gabe found himself fighting him. They weren’t a danger to humans, they couldn’t understand what was happening or why, and they probably couldn’t protect themselves even if they did become mean.

Sighing, Gabe starts to go over but finds himself staring in shock when the other boy suddenly falls sideways.

Snapping out of it, he runs over and finds the other boy’s eyes are closed, and worse, there’s blood. It’s dripping off the forehead onto the street and running down the drain, but he’s not exactly sure where on the forehead it’s coming from.

He’s never understood why so many of his classmates are desperate to get cell phones, but now, he wishes more than anything he had one.

Don’t panic, he tells himself. Don’t panic.

He knows TV isn’t a reliable guide to real life, but he’s seen so many movies and episodes where people made things worse by moving someone who was hurt. They’re always supposed to wait for paramedics.

Mumbling a curse word his mom would whip him for if she were around (and sober enough to understand), he looks around, sees nearby street signs, and runs over to them. There are houses in the distance. If he runs as fast as he can-

A chill goes through him, and he finds himself turning around.

Something is happening, but he isn’t sure what.

Running back over, he kneels down and watches the last of the blood fall from the boy’s forehead and run down the drain.

The boy’s completely _clear_ forehead. There isn’t a scratch, bruise, or cut he can see.

A big part of him thinks running as fast as he can and pretending none of this, whatever this is, happened is a good idea.

Instead, he slowly and softly touches the forehead.

The boy’s skin is a little too cold under his fingertips.

He looks over, and based on the way it’s twisted, he knows the boy probably has a broken leg.

Thankfully, though, the other boy is still breathing.

Turning back, he jumps away when the boy’s eyes flutter open and stare.

He can see why people find the boy’s stare so creepy. The eyes are pale, somewhere between blue and green, and they’re so big and round, they make his thin face look rabbity.

“I’m Nolan.”

Gabe brings his hand back up to his own forehead. There’s nothing _wrong_ with a person introducing themselves, usually, but if it were him who just hit his head and had his leg stuck in a street drain, his first words to a stranger wouldn’t be telling them his name, especially not so calmly.

“I’m Gabe. Here, I’m going to try to pull you out.”

“Thank you.”

Nolan’s skinny and short, and it’s easy enough to tug and pull until his twisted leg comes up and out of the drain.

Then, before Gabe can stop him, Nolan is moving his leg.

There’s a small snap, and suddenly, the leg is back in place, and Nolan is moving it with no difficulty.

You shouldn’t be able to do that, he almost says. That isn’t normal. Humans can’t do what you just did.

Suddenly, he thinks of some book he had to read for an English assignment. It’d been about this antichrist kid who somehow had no idea he was anything but a normal kid despite the fact weird things that shouldn’t happen were always happening around him.

Gabe had been as sarcastic as he could in writing the report, but surprisingly, he’d gotten an A- on it.

Now- even if it turns out magic is real, Gabe doesn’t think Nolan is an antichrist, but what if he is something magical and doesn’t know it?

He helps Nolan stand up. “Are you okay? Did you hit your head?”

“No,” Nolan answers.

Making sure to be gentle, Gabe touches Nolan’s forehead and looks closely at it and Nolan’s head and face.

Staying still, Nolan patiently lets him, but he has a look on his face like he finds Gabe the strange one.

Gabe’s tempted to ask, Why were you laying on your side, then? How’d you get in such a position? Your eyes were closed, and you apparently didn’t hear me when I came up, right?

He can’t feel any bumps, and there’s no trace of blood he can find.

Rain starts to come down.

“We should get home,” Nolan says. “My parents don’t like it when I’m out in the rain.”

“Yeah, I’ll walk you,” Gabe says.

For the first time, a little bit of fear or uneasiness crosses Nolan’s face. “You don’t have to.”

Gabe realises Nolan’s probably been bullied before. “I don’t care where you live. I just don’t want to be responsible if I leave and you end up getting hurt.”

“I’m not sure-”

Gabe wraps his fingers around Nolan’s wrist. “Which way?”

“Um-” Nolan tries to tug his wrist out. “This way.” He starts walking.

…

When they get to Nolan’s house, on the covered porch, Nolan takes his shoes off. “We don’t wear shoes inside.”

“Good for you."

His shoes aren’t muddy, and if they were, he’d wipe them on the welcome mat, but he’s not going to go along with any of Nolan’s weird habits.

They go inside, and calling his name, Nolan’s parents rush out.

Sighing, Gabe takes off his shoes and sets them on a nearby shoe rack Nolan had set his on.

“Mom, Dad, this is Gabe. I, um, got stuck in a those bars above the street, and he pulled me out.”

“A street drain? Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

Gabe notices she looks at him rather than Nolan on the last question, and he keeps quiet.

“He’s fine,” Nolan’s dad assures her. “Aren’t you, buddy?”

It’s not polite to ask, but Gabe wonders if adoption is in play. Nolan’s father is Asian, and his mother obviously has some Asian in her. If part of her is white, it’s possible she and her husband had a blondish, blue-eyed white kid, and it’s also possible someone other than her husband got her pregnant. Gabe’s own dad was from Mexico, and his mom is white. Unless he tells people about his dad, everyone assumes he’s fully white.

“Thank you,” Nolan’s dad says, “for bringing our son home safely.” He sighs. “And pulling him out of the street drain.”

Gabe can definitely relate to the ‘how did you even manage to get yourself in such a situation’ look he gives his son.

“Yes, thank you,” Nolan’s mom says.

He isn’t sure, but he has the feeling they know about their son. It feels almost as if they’re looking at him and trying to figure out if he does, too.

“No problem.” He squeezes Nolan’s shoulder. “Take care of yourself.”

“Wait, let us drive you home,” Nolan’s mom says.

“No, thank you. That’s okay.”

He jumps when crying fills the air.

“I’ll get him, honey.”

Smiling at him, Nolan’s mom says, “It’s okay. Jaden’s our youngest son." She gives Nolan a pointed look. "Someone was supposed to be watching his baby brother earlier, not getting stuck in street drains. Sweetheart, do you know how that happened?”

Shaking his head, Nolan mutters, “I’m not his brother.”

“Yes, you are,” is her sharp reply.

Nolan’s dad comes out with a baby drinking a bottle in his arms, and Gabe notices the baby looks like them. “If you don’t want a ride home, would you, at least, like to stay for dinner, wait out the rain?”

He’s not sure what to make of the look Nolan gives him. It’s not ‘you will say no, and leave’, but it’s not ‘say yes’, either.

“Yes, please, stay for dinner. Luka and I are having beef casserole, but if you’d like something different, we can probably find something else for you.”

“Yeah,” Nolan suddenly says. “Please, stay.”

…

It turns out, unlike his parents, Nolan is having white rice and some kind of noodle soup with chicken and purple onions in it.

His mom also gives him watered down orange juice, and if not for everything else, this would be one thing Gabe wouldn’t have to stop himself from shaking his head at. He still waters his own apple juice down every morning.

They offer him soda and juice, but he decides to try some of the tea they’re drinking.

This turns out to be a good idea.

“It’s called gunpowder tea,” Nolan’s mom says. “I’ll give you some to take home.”

They ask him the typical questions parents ask kids, he answers, and by the time dinner is done, it’s still raining outside and has gotten dark.

“If you won’t let us drive you home, at least, call your parents to come get you,” Nolan’s mom says.

“My mom doesn’t have a car, and I don’t have a dad.”

There’s vague guilt at the words, but it’s better than explaining, ‘My dad was killed by border patrol agents when I was three, and my mom’s been a drunk ever since. Even if she did still have a car, she also has a suspended license.’

“Don’t worry. I’ve camped in worse weather than this,” he adds.

“All the same, you’re either taking the couch, or we’re driving you home,” Nolan’s dad says.

…

Nolan has to be forced to take a bath.

Gabe tries to avoid showering, too, but he wouldn’t almost throw a fit in front of anyone he went to school with.

“Nolan is unique. He has some special requirements,” Nolan’s mother apologetically says.

He seriously considers bringing up the magical healing earlier just to see how she reacts. He can almost believe they’re just worried and treat Nolan like a little kid because he has some sort of special needs, but part of him thinks, unless today was the first time something magical ever happened to Nolan, they’d have to know. Unlike his mom, they pay attention to their sons, and neither seems to be drunk or high on anything.

After she gets the couch ready, he finds himself following her.

Nolan’s room has **Nolan** hanging above the door, and there’s a line of black powder extending from one end of the wall to the other on both sides of the door. Inside is a cheap plastic dresser and chest, a futon with brown seats and two pillows in matching brown cases, a closet, the white walls are covered with some sort of Asian writing in black, and there are bars on Nolan’s windows.

To add to the creepiness, there’s white lines across the window stills that Nolan’s mom is checking, and based on the box of salt she has in her hand, they’re probably salt, too.

She turns, jumps, and almost drops the box. “Oh, you scared me. Nolan has bad dreams about monsters, and all this helps him. Why don’t you come in?”

Looking down at the black powder, he steps over it.

Sighing, she smiles. “It’s ash from a rowan tree. There are stories about it and salt keeping monsters away. It makes him feel safer.”

Or does it actually keep him safe from something, he wonders. What is your son? Are you and your husband whatever he is? Is his little brother?

…

The front door clicking wakes him in the middle of the night.

Getting off the couch, he searches the house.

Nolan isn’t in his room or the bathroom. He isn’t in his parents’ room with them and the baby. He isn’t in the kitchen or pantry.

Making sure the door is unlocked, Gabe quietly leaves and soon finds Nolan shivering up in a treehouse.

He hopes it’s Nolan’s treehouse, but at this point, it wouldn’t surprise him if it belonged to a neighbour’s kid.

“Gabe?” Nolan blinks at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. Why’d you sneak out?”

Curling his arms around his legs, Nolan frowns. “I know I’m not like other kids. The school counsellors, they always want to do tests, and my parents will never let them. But I’m not wrong. Strange things happen in this town. Monsters want to take me away from my parents.”

Trying to figure out what to say, he finally asks, “Why do they want to take you?”

Nolan shrugs. “I can never get them to answer.”

“Alright. No monster wants me. Come on. If you want, I’ll sleep in your room tonight.”

Big eyes study him. “R-really?”

“Yeah.”

…

They go inside, he gets Nolan under the covers, and laying his head at the foot, he settles on top of the covers.

“Please, don’t tell,” Nolan whispers. “I know other kids- I don’t mean to be so different.”

“I’m not going to tell.”

Some kids have tried to give him crap for different things: The fact he never has money for field trips, is on reduced lunch, and has four shirts, six identical jeans, and three pairs of shorts that still fit and has been wearing the same boots for almost two years. The fact most people know his mom is one of the town drunks. The fact he’d rather play video games and go camping than go to parties and school-hosted social events.

The girls, he ignores. He knows enough about his dad to know that he was the type who considered hitting a woman one of the worst things a man can do. The boys, though, he’s learned, if he throws the first punch and keeps as quiet as possible, they’ll quickly decide to leave him alone the next time they come across him, even if they managed to get more blows in.

He guesses, with whatever Nolan is, it’s a good thing Nolan’s never adopted such a strategy. Nolan might end up doing more harm than he ever has.

Even though he’ll punch boys when necessary and doesn’t see anything wrong with calling someone an idiot when they’re being an idiot, he’s never understood why some people will attack other people who haven’t done anything to them. Weird kids like Nolan usually don’t hurt anyone with their strange behaviour. At most, they can be a little annoying, and a little annoying isn’t reason to call them names or mess with them.

…

Nolan’s parents don’t ask why they found him sleeping in their son’s bed. They give him breakfast, make sure he has the gunpowder tea, and let him head home.

The next day, at school, he sees Nolan eating alone, and instead of sitting with some boys he occasionally hangs out with on the weekends, he goes and sits across from him.

Looking up with scared eyes, Nolan relaxes a little when he sees it’s him. “Gabe? What are you doing?”

“Eating lunch.”

“Here?”

“Yeah, here,” he answers.

They eat in silence, and after he throws away his trash and puts his tray up, he sees some older boys have Nolan pressed against a wall and are clearly trying to get him out of the cafeteria.

Before Gabe found out magic is real, he never thought the fact teachers and lunch room monitors are never around when stuff like this happens but are always able to catch him when he tries to sneak out of the lunchroom early was because they somehow knew when stuff like this was about to happen and just didn’t want to deal with it, but now, he’s wondering.

Going over, he asks, “What’s the problem here?”

“This doesn’t involve-”

“I never said it did, Perry. Why are you going after him?”

Perry huffs. “He told the principal I kept my pocketknife in my locker.”

“No, I didn’t,” Nolan says.

“You told somebody!”

“Even if he did, you didn’t get in much trouble, did you? You aren’t in ISS or regular detention.”

“My parents took it away.”

In Gabe’s opinion, this is the first smart thing they’ve done since they did the stupid thing of giving it to Perry in the first place. As far as he knows, Perry’s never threatened anyone with it, but having seen how Perry handles it, he knows, someday, either Perry or someone unlucky enough to be near Perry is going to get hurt.  

Shoving at Nolan, Perry says, “This isn’t your business, Gabe."

“Leave him alone, or it will be,” he warns.

Nolan looks at him with wide eyes. “Gabe? N-no. It’s okay, I can-”

“Shut up, Nolan,” he says.

Perry laughs. “You’re not going to stop us.” Then, he shoves so hard Nolan almost falls onto the floor.

Grabbing him, Gabe punches, and all the other boys run.

…

In the office, the principal says, “We’re having trouble getting a hold of your mom.”

“I wonder if she’s finally choked to death on her own vomit,” Perry mutters loud enough to be heard.

Gabe hopes she hasn’t, but he’s mostly accepted this is probably going to happen one day. Whenever she’s passed out, he always tries to get her onto her side or stomach and have the phone near her. Sometimes, though, he’s left and come back to find the phone off the hook and her lying on her back.  

At the principal's scowl, Perry protests, “What? Everyone knows she’s never not drunk."

Nolan pokes at his hand, and he wonders if this is Nolan’s way of trying to offer comfort.

“You should get to class,” Gabe says.

Then, Nolan’s parents come in.

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

“Everything’s fine, but Mom didn’t go to work today,” she answers. “We’ll talk about it later, but don’t worry, okay?”

Nolan nods, and suddenly, Gabe has two parents not his kneeling in front of him.

Studying his face and fists, Nolan's mom says, “Not too bad."

Looking over at the principal, Nolan’s dad says, “Since this involves our son, too, we’d like to know what exactly happened.”

…

The parents all go into the principal’s office, and Perry goes somewhere.

“I never asked what your parents do.”

“My dad’s a manager at Peterson’s Seafood Deluxe. It’s a restaurant near-”

“Yeah, I went there once when I was little. I don’t really remember it, but I know one of my neighbours always chooses to go there on her birthday.”

“And my mom-” Nolan shifts. “She’s a doctor.”

“That’s cool.”

“Um- There’s this clinic outside of Beacon Hills. They do abortions. Including her. She used to be a regular OB/GYN, but she decided to-” Nolan shrugs.

Gabe shrugs, too. “Women should be able to get abortions if they want or think it’s best.”

Nolan looks at him with surprised, thankful eyes.    

“Did someone call in a bomb threat?”

“Maybe. Usually, people leave suspicious looking packages at the door, and they have to call the police and shut the clinic down for a few days.” Nolan sighs. “I hate it when that happens. Mom always worries that patients she’s supposed to see won’t be safe.”

“Do they have cameras?”

“Yeah, but usually, the people who do it are smart enough to wear masks and walk, so that cars and license plates don’t give any leads.” He takes a breath. “Gabe, why-why’d you get involved?”

“Perry’s an idiot.”

“Yeah, but he- it was the guidance counsellor I told.”

“Where’s your little brother?”

Scowling, Nolan insists, “He’s not my brother." He crosses his arms. “Jaden’s at the restaurant. There’s a daycare near the clinic, but when she doesn’t go to work, my dad takes care of him. Even when she doesn’t go to work, she still works. She does stuff on the computer and makes a lot of phone calls. Everyone at the restaurant is cool with my dad bringing Jaden, and if he has to leave for something, they take care of him.”

Part of the reason Gabe stepped in is, because, he doesn’t know what would have happened if the others had hurt Nolan and Nolan had healed right in front of them. He doesn’t know if Nolan might not have the ability to magically hurt anyone who hurts him.

The other part is, Gabe just didn’t want Nolan to be hurt. Nolan, for all his weirdness, isn’t bad, and Gabe almost never cares when people get into fights, but when he sees people being actually picked on, it always reminds him of those animals his neighbour was torturing. Before, he’s always managed to get the bullies to back off without throwing a punch, but this time- He’s hoping the next time they decide they want to pick on Nolan they’ll think twice and decide not to.

“Thank you,” Nolan quietly says.

“No problem.”

…

Nolan’s parents come out, and it turns out, they’re taking both him and Nolan home for the day.

Gabe’s pretty sure there are legal rules against this, but it’s not like he actually wants to stay at school.

He’s also suspended for the rest of the week, and Perry has ISS.

He wonders what made them decide who got in-school suspension and who got regular. They generally try to hold ISS in one classroom, but the idea the teachers couldn’t stop him and Perry from going at it is probably accurate on their parts. Doing two different classrooms when there’s only two students who are the issue would be too much work, he imagines.

…

At Nolan’s, they sit on his bed and do homework.

“I can help you with math,” Nolan says.

“I’ll just take the zeros. I hate math.”

“But it’s- just let me see it,” Nolan insists.

Rolling his eyes, he hands the math sheets over.

“Why do you hate it?”

“I’m just not good at numbers.”

Nolan starts writing, and Gabe’s shocked to see both how fast Nolan is writing down numbers and the feeling he’s looking at the correct answers.

“I’m, uh, in advanced placement math. I’m already starting to learn algebra and geometry. Miss Frasier thinks I’ll be able to take calculus and trigonometry in a few years.”

“Good for you. I’ve never believed math is important for everything like the teachers always say.”

“But the universe is built on mathematics,” Nolan over-dramatically protests.

“Right.”

Nolan starts giving examples, and Gabe interrupts, “I play video games all the time. I’m really good at it. Maybe some of the lame ones involve math, but most don’t.”

Suddenly, Nolan grabs his hand and is tugging him. “Mom, we need to use the computer!”

Nolan’s mom appears. “Shush, sweetheart. Jaden’s sleeping. Why do you need the computer?”

“I have to prove video games are built on math.”

“Okay,” she agrees. “What video games?”

Gabe gives her one of the non-violent, rated E ones that can be played free online. He does yard work all summer and during the warmer weather, and he used to save his money up for when he turned eighteen and could leave town, but then, he discovered video games at the local library. He’s bought a cheap TV, a console, and recently, a computer. He doesn’t have internet, but he’ll play ones requiring it at the library, check video games that don’t out, and he’s managed to buy a decent amount of his own over the last few years.

It turns out, the only computer in the house is an old desktop, and unsurprisingly, Nolan’s mom sits nearby while they use it.

“Look, see,” Nolan says, and Gabe sees Nolan has somehow brought up the coding. “If you want to jump, the formula to make that happen-”

“I know about coding. I mean, I don’t know how you brought it up, and I could never code, but I know about it.”

“Just- look, do you know what these numbers mean?”

“No.”

“Alright, I’m going to change them, and then, you’re going to play.”

“Is that legal,” Nolan’s mom interjects.

“He was going to take zeros on his math homework, Mom.”

Gabe isn’t sure how this argument works, especially since it’s not a ‘yes’ or even a ‘no, but’, or why he suddenly isn’t in big trouble, but Nolan’s mom simply says, “Okay, go ahead.”

The game’s brought back up, and Gabe- “How’d you do that?”

“It’s coding. Math. See, the formula to…”

He finds himself listening.

…

He still doesn’t like math, but he finds it easier to understand some of the problems.

“My being good at video games, though, it’s because I have good reflexes and usually know what move I need to make before it’s time to make it.”

Nolan nods. “You don’t have to understand math to be good at it, but that doesn’t change the fact math’s a big part of it.”

“Well, anyway, thanks.”

“Want to stay for dinner?”

“Shouldn’t you ask your parents?”

“They’ll ask when my dad gets home.”

“If they do, sure.”

Nolan smiles at him, and it’s a little creepy, but he finds he doesn’t mind.

…

He ends up taking the foot of Nolan’s bed again.

“There are people who aren’t people in this town,” Nolan whispers. “They think no one notices, but they can do things. Their eyes glow, they’re stronger than they should be, faster, they never get hurt or sick.”

“Who are these people?”

“Different ones,” Nolan mutters. “The Hale family, before they all died in that house fire, one of them could turn into a wolf. I got lost in the woods, once, and everyone said I just imagined it, that Mrs Hale found me in the morning and carried me home, but she didn’t. She was a wolf, and she kept me warm before turning back- Do you believe me, Gabe?”

Gabe has no idea who the Hales are or were. He believes Nolan probably was lost in the woods as a kid and that this Mrs Hale did bring him home. If she did anything to him, though, or what she might have done if she did-

He asks, “Do you think these people are dangerous?”

“Some of them are. My parents, they say, that if supernatural people exist, that doesn’t make them automatically bad. But I’m always scared, what if they hurt my parents? Jaden? You?”

“No one’s going to hurt us,” he says.

If there are people like Nolan out there, he doesn’t know how he’d stop them from hurting Nolan, but he decides he’ll try his best to find a way. And if humans ever go after Nolan, he knows he’ll stop them. Nolan isn’t exactly a friend, but in a way, Gabe can understand him better than he can the other boys he plays video games and goes camping with. They’re all normal kids, and he and Nolan aren’t.


End file.
